VS Sohu and BS Dhillon
WHEAT is the second most essential staple meals of Indians, after rice. In Punjab, it’s crucial rabi crop and a significant contributor to the economic system of the state and its farmers. The wheat crop is going through a significant problem due to early heatwaves. During the 2021-22 rabi season, extraordinary spikes in temperatures have been witnessed. This coincided with grain improvement, when wheat could be very delicate to excessive temperatures. It adversely impacted ear size, grain quantity and grain boldness in addition to pressured superior maturity by about 10 days. As a end result, wheat yield dropped from 4,868 kg/ha (hectare) throughout 2020-21 to 4,216 kg/ha throughout 2021-22 within the state. Besides the grain produced had decrease high quality due to shrivelling and poor lustre. The nationwide wheat yield dropped marginally from 3,521 kg/ha throughout 2020-21 to 3,484 kg/ha throughout 2021-22 due to erratic climate (excessive temperatures).
During the present rabi season, the weird rise in temperature began even earlier. During February 5-11, 2023, the utmost and minimal weekly temperatures have been 3°C above regular (recorded at PAU, Ludhiana); within the succeeding week, the utmost temperature was 3.3°C above regular (although the deviation of the minimal temperature was not as pronounced). On February 20, the utmost in addition to minimal temperatures have been markedly above regular (5.1°C or extra) at many locations in north India.
Anticipating opposed results of an impending early heatwave on wheat yield and its penalties for meals safety, committees have been constituted on the nationwide degree to monitor the scenario. The Punjab Government and PAU are additionally conserving a watch. PAU and different agricultural analysis establishments are issuing advisories for mitigating heat stress:
- Increase the frequency of sunshine Irrigations: If the temperature rises above regular, frequent mild irrigation needs to be utilized up to March-end. However, care needs to be taken to keep away from heavy irrigation because it leads to stress due to flooding.
- Spray potassium nitrate or salicylic acid: Apply 2% KNO3 (4 kg potassium nitrate, 13:0:45, in 200 litres of water) or salicylic acid on the price of 75 ppm (15 gm salicylic acid dissolved in 450 ml of ethyl alcohol utilizing 200 litres of water) per acre at ear emergence and early milk stage within the night hours.
For rabi 2023-24, the next factors needs to be taken care of earlier than the appearance of the season:
- Heat-tolerant wheat varieties: The excessive temperatures throughout 2021-22 offered a chance to assess the efficiency of heat-tolerant varieties within the farmers’ fields throughout the state. The surveys revealed that PBW 766 (Sunehri) was one of the best, having greater yield with minimal discount in yield beneath heat stress. Other varieties equivalent to PBW 824, PBW 869, DBW 187 and PBW 677 additionally carried out nicely. Further, within the all-India coordinated analysis trials carried out on the nationwide degree, PBW 826 ranked first for grain yield within the north-western plains zone (Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and components of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) throughout all three years of testing, together with the heat stress season of 2021-22. Furthermore, the heat tolerance functionality of PBW 826 was confirmed by its launch within the north-eastern plains zone (jap Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and plains of NE states) which is hotter than the western zone.
- Sowing date-dependent varietal decisions: Appropriate wheat varieties can be found for regular and late sowings. But there’s a tendency to sow varieties appropriate for regular sowing due to their greater yield potential, even beneath delayed sowing. These varieties have longer length and when sown late, endure extra due to heat stress. Thus, varietal alternative needs to be primarily based on the sowing date.
- Long-duration rice varieties: The cultivation of long-duration rice varieties equivalent to Pusa 44 and Pusa Dogar, in addition to inflicting sick results (depletion of groundwater, air pollution due to straw burning), delay wheat sowing, making wheat extra weak to heat stress. The cultivation of such varieties needs to be prohibited.
- Conservation agriculture: Sowing wheat utilizing Happy Seeder in rice residue-retained fields gives a mulch on the soil floor. This mulch retains soil and cover temperatures delicate throughout March-April and allows the crop to bear excessive temperature stress.
The wheat crop is uncovered to temperature fluctuations throughout virtually the complete season. Thus, the power of the forms of variable durations (for various sowing instances) to stand up to heat stress throughout all progress levels wants to be improved. The ICAR’s All-India Coordinated Wheat and Barley Improvement Project and agricultural universities in Punjab and different states are alive to this case, however want extra assets to strengthen these actions in order to face the rising problem of excessive temperatures.
To reap the total harvest of improved practices, the extension system should run campaigns to make farmers conscious of the most recent merchandise and applied sciences and their relevance to completely different agro-ecologies, and in addition create consciousness among the many plenty on the upcoming local weather change chaos.
Sohu is HoD, Plant Breeding & Genetics, and Dhillon is former VC, PAU, Ludhiana
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